Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-08-18
The Battle of Wheat-xrowers

Il
The worlds wheat supply, always q
matter of great interest, becomes a
problem of special curiosity in view of
facts which come by the miracle-work>
ing wires from all parts of the globe
In Vienna wheat is at the lowest price
for 23 years, which implies an unusual
ly large production in Austro- Hungary
and the Danubisn region. In Russia
the yield is irregular, but on the whole
appears to be large. In France, accord
ing to official estimates,t the crop exceeds
that of last year by five million heetoli'
tres, or 14.I90,OO0 bushels. French i'm
ports for ten months of this year have
been 30,265,Os1 were from the United
States, so that the increase of yield
above reported is about half these int
ports. British threshing throughout
Southern England has caused decline
of Al to cents per bushel within the
past fortnight, and The Mark Lane Ex-
press" says that farmers have now mo
prospect of escaping ruioously low pri>
ces." California wheat has dropped so
cents on the bushel at Liverpool. the
| 16,0O0,0 900 bushels there and on the way
being heavy load to carry. Meanwhile
the Ohio State report makes the wheat
yield 100000 bushels. or one-fifth less
than last year, while considerable inju-
ry from drouth is reported in far North
western States. But long train loaded
only with 100 tons of twine for single
wheat farm in Dakota is rolling west
ward across the continent.
These facts are sufficiently contradic.
tory, bot now comes dispatch from far
of India, stating that a powerful effort
is to be made through Indian merchants
in England to secure reduction In rail-
way freights in India. The cost of
transportation by railroads in that coun-
try is so high that 1t more than counter
balances any difference In cost of pro-
duction between India and the United
States. DUG to cheapness of Indian labor.
The object is TO enable India to compete
more effectively with American wheat.
and thus. the Director of Agriculture
says, to force the United States to low.
er its tariff and open its markets to
British industry. The Indian Govern
ment manifests that wonderfully selfr
sacrificing spirit which British manu-
facturers also have so conspieuously
shown; they want American tariffs re
duced so that the United States may
compete more powerfully with British
manufacturers, while the auth critics of
India want the export price of wheat
from that country reduced, so that Eu>
rope may secure the Industrial sub>
lection of the United States. and buy
more wheat here and less from the far
East,
One or two conclusions may be drawn
from these facts. With smaller yield
than that of last year in the United
States, the world is likely to have
somewhat larger wheat supply from
other sources, which may be in effect
increased by any change in transporta-
ton charges in India. But the prospect
as it stands is most disheartening to
wheatglow wers in Great Britain and in
many parts of Europe, foreshadowing
range of prices below the actual cost Of
production there Anything like full
crop in this country, without material
decrease in the yield in other countries,
must further depress the price for all
Europe, for full yield here would
mean sixty to eighty million bushels
more than our last years crop. Dinin-
ishing yield in Europe is the natural
consequence of these conditions, but
that cannot be felt for at least year to
come, and meanwhile the competition
to sell is likely to affect charges for
transportation and the price realized by
producers. Thus the prosperity of many
nations is linked together, and railroad
companies on the Ganges and on the
Mississippi, and grain producers along
the Indus, the Danube, the Missouri and
the Columbia are all affected by the
progress of the struggle.-N.Y. Tribune.